Aaron Walder

Property

• In his commercial landlord and tenant practice, Aaron deals with all issues of forfeiture and possession (including break options), 1954 Act renewal of tenancies, dilapidations and compensation for improvements, and rent reviews and service charge provisions, for both landlords and tenants. He fully understands the need for clients to receive details advice, sometimes rapidly, and retains a commercial perspective at all times. He recently represented the successful Respondents in the Court of Appeal case of Brar v Thirunavukkrasu [2020] Ch 567, the leading case on waiver of forfeiture and CRAR.

• He has a wealth of experience in cases involving agricultural land. As well as acting for a number of national developers in assisting in obtaining vacant possession of Agricultural Holdings, Aaron has advised farmers and land owners on a number of issues, and conducted hearings and arbitrations for those clients. He has also acted on negligence cases arising from advice given in relation to Agricultural Land. He recently acted in JR & B Farming Ltd v Hewitt [2021] EWHC 1704, in relation to negligent advice given in relation to notices served under the Agricultural Holdings Act 1986.

• In his residential practice Aaron advises on, and represents clients in the FTT, Upper Tribunal, and Court of Appeal in disputes relating to service charge and management disputes as well as all issues arising from enfranchisement and valuation. He has been heavily involved in advising the Government in relation to the new Building Safety Act 2022 and has an active interest in service charge questions relating to disrepair and safety of residential buildings. He has appeared in, or is appearing in, cases exploring virtually all aspects of the new Building Safety jurisdiction, including applications for Remediation Orders, Remediation Compensation Orders, and Service Charge disputes involving Schedule 8 of the Act, both for Landlords and Tenants or RTM’s and management companies. Further, he is instructed on behalf of the Government in relation to a number of the Judicial Review cases launched against the Building Safety Regulations.

• He advises and conducts litigation on numerous real property issues. His high profile and reported cases include High Court and Court of Appeal cases on the law of adverse possession and cases on proprietary estoppel and constructive trusts. His role as a FTT judge in the Land Registration division means his knowledge and experience of conveyancing issues, disputes regarding title and the registration of land, is significant. Further, he advises regularly on the interpretation of, and implementation of, easements and covenants; including representing clients in the Upper Tribunal seeking the modification or discharge of covenants binding their land, such as in Re Walsh’s Application [2013] UKUT 34 (UT). Aaron also acts and advises on cases involving Mortgages and Receivers, and Party Walls such as Breuer v Leccacorvi [2014] PLSCS 159.

• Aaron has advised and appeared in, and has a special interest in, cases relating to the interpretation and enforceability of contracts generally, and especially those relating to sale and other transfers of interests in land, and the interpretation of clauses in leases. He advises regularly on option agreements, pre-emption agreements and joint venture agreements, as well as clauses within leases. In this regard, he has acted for a number of well know developers, and large infrastructure providers such as HS2 and the Highways Authority (now National Highways Ltd), both in Court and in Arbitrations. Aaron is used to assimilating large amounts of historic documentation where necessary, and also forensically cross-examining witnesses to secure factual findings relevant to interpretation and intention. He was recently successful in the case of Khan v Malik [2023] EWHC 2529, involving the ascertainment of, and interpretation of, an agreement to renovate premises and to the granting of a lease as consideration for those works.

• Aaron has also appeared in a number of cases in both the FTT and Upper Tribunal in the specialist area of Mobile Home Act law, where he has represented a number of site owners around the country, as well as local authorities and residents’ groups, providing him with a good understanding of the issues that arise in many park home cases. He recently acted for a park owner on a technical appeal on the interpretation of the relevant statutory regime in John Romans Park Homes Ltd v Hancock [2018] UKUT 249 (LC)

• Aaron also acts in cases that have a property element, but might also be classified under other areas of law. He has acted in cases involving protesters, including the “Just Stop Oil” protests, and the “Extinction Rebellion” protests. Aaron has appeared in cases relating to nuisance, including a number of recent cases involving Japanese Knotweed. He recently represented the Chief Land Registrar in Bakrania v Shah [2019] EWHC 949 (Ch), a case involving fraud in property transactions, professional negligence, contributory negligence and indemnities. He has experience of Judicial Review proceedings. His knowledge and experience in arguing procedural points was illustrated in Kassam v Gill [2018] 8 WLUK 119, a case involving the legitimacy of a “landlord’s agent” to conduct litigation. His knowledge of the law of damages is illustrated by his success in Almacantar v CID Investments [2021] All ER (D) 127. Finally, his experience as a specialist judge means he has a detailed knowledge of company law and insolvency, and is highly knowledgeable in cases involving property insolvency and the implication on obligations and ownership.

Agricultural Law

Aaron has a wealth of experience in cases involving agricultural land. As well as acting for a number of national developers in assisting in obtaining vacant possession of Agricultural Holdings, Aaron has advised farmers and land owners on a number of issues, and conducted hearings and arbitrations for those clients. He has also acted on negligence cases arising from advice given in relation to Agricultural Land.

Commercial Landlord and Tenant

In Aaron's commercial landlord and tenant practice, he deals with all issues of forfeiture and possession (including break options), 1954 Act renewal of tenancies, dilapidations and compensation for improvements, and rent reviews and service charge provisions, for both landlords and tenants. He represented the successful Respondents in the leading case on waiver of forfeiture and CRAR as it applies to commercial property.

Residential Leasehold Management and Disputes

In the residential practices, Aaron advises on, and represents clients in the FTT, Upper Tribunal, and Court of Appeal in disputes relating to service charge and management disputes as well as all issues arising from enfranchisement and valuation. He has been heavily involved in advising the Government in relation to the new Building Safety Bill and has an active interest in service charge questions relating to disrepair and safety of residential buildings.

Rating and Valuation

Aaron is a leading practitioner in the law of rating and valuation, with a practice that encompasses some of the most significant and technically demanding cases in the field. His expertise is grounded in a deep understanding of property valuation, developed through extensive work in landlord and tenant law — including lease renewals under Part II of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954, commercial rent review arbitrations, and expert determinations — which provides a rigorous analytical foundation for his rating practice.

As a member of the Attorney General's A Panel of Civil Counsel, Aaron is regularly instructed by HMRC and the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) in the most complex and high-profile rating cases. Aaron's instructions on behalf of the VOA have included acting in leading cases on the valuation of office accommodation and advising on the compilation and maintenance of the rating list.

Aaron has developed a particular specialism in the rating of office accommodation, and specifically in the valuation treatment of tenant fit-out works. He advised in Bunyan (VO) v Acenden Ltd [2023] UKUT 17 (LC), a landmark decision in which the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) firmly rejected the proposition that a building fitted out to Category B condition is worth no more for rating purposes than the same building in Category A condition. The decision established important principles concerning the appropriate methodology for quantifying the rental value attributable to Category B works, and has had significant ramifications for the valuation of office hereditaments across the 2017 and 2023 rating lists.

Aaron subsequently appeared (led by Jenny Wigley KC) in Hitchings (VO) v Shoosmiths LLP and Mando Group Ltd [2025] UKUT 224 (LC), in which the Upper Tribunal heard two appeals as test cases concerning Grade A offices in Manchester and Liverpool. Building on the principles established in Bunyan, the Tribunal addressed the appropriate method of calculating the Category B uplift.

Most recently he appeared in Re Dyer's Appeal [2026] UKUT 158 (LC), concerning the fit-out of office accommodation and the proper application of Shoosmiths.

Aaron has also appeared in cases involving the application of the principles established by the Supreme Court in Newbigin (VO) v S J & J Monk [2017] UKSC 14, which restored the long-standing practice of ascribing nominal rateable values to properties undergoing redevelopment. Aaron's recent work in this area has included cases concerning the proper scope and interpretation of that doctrine, including the circumstances in which a building may properly be deleted from, or given a nominal entry in, the rating list on account of redevelopment works.

In addition to his government work, Aaron acts for and advises individual and corporate ratepayers and local billing authorities across all tiers of the rating appellate structure, from the Magistrates' Court and the Valuation Tribunal for England through to the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) and the appellate courts. His advisory practice covers empty rates liability, the identification and definition of separate hereditaments, liability for non-domestic rates, and council tax.

Aaron is a regular speaker on rating law and valuation matters and has published a number of articles on valuation topics, several of which have been co-authored with chartered surveyors.